With hardly time to pause, policymakers lunged from one budget solution to another at the height of the recent fiscal crisis, spawning a chaotic period of accounting gimmicks, borrowing and budget slashing.

The Arizona Commerce Authority’s deal-closing fund became more of a deal-making fund during the 2013 legislative session, opening the possibility that more special projects could be in the agency’s future.

A panel of representatives and senators yesterday recommended the continuation of a dollar-for-dollar tax credit program for contributions to groups that provide scholarships to students in private and parochial schools.

The Arizona Public Interest Research Group yesterday released a report critiquing the Arizona Commerce Authority’s transparency practices, calling on the agency to make more information about subsidy programs available online and to fight for legislative change in areas where the ACA is prohibited by law from disclosing information.

The last bill that the Legislature approved before adjourning for the year underwent major changes in the waning hours of the session that could be worth as much as $30 million in tax credits to some companies.

Since the recession battered the economy in 2008, the state has dramatically increased the number of incentives it offers to companies that bring new jobs to Arizona. But after three years of tax credits, incentives and other policies aimed at jump-starting Arizona’s economy, some economists are saying the state should stop and take a breather.

Proponents of a bill that would use state tax credits to encourage lenders to open their wallets for small businesses say they can help struggling entrepreneurs get access to much needed capital without invoking the most dreaded phrase in the debate over government incentives — “picking winners and losers.”